Norfolk's health system explained

Changes were made to the health and care system across England in April 2013 as part of the Health and Social Care Act. This system, explained here, was aimed at giving local communities and patients more say in the care they receive.

NHS England

NHS England have four regional teams with NHS Midlands and East of England being the regional team for Norfolk.

The regional teams work closely with organisations such as clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), local authorities, health and wellbeing boards as well as GP practices.

Public Health England

Provides national leadership and expert services to support public health, and also works with local government and the NHS to respond to emergencies.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)

CCGs replaced the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in April 2013. Norfolk has five CCGs, which are made up of doctors, nurses and other professionals. These groups are responsible for planning and buying healthcare services for their local area such as: hospital care, Community Health Care services, NHS Trust and NHS foundation trusts for people living in Norfolk and Waveney area. They can buy services from any service provider that meets NHS Standards and cost and must gain assurance of the quality of the services being provided.

To Support the CCGs in some practical aspects of their duties and responsibilities to buy healthcare services such as contract negotiation, analysing information some CCGs in Norfolk have used the expertise of North East London (NEL) Commissioning Support Unit.

Norfolk County Council

Norfolk County Council is responsible for protecting and improving public health.
Our role is to help people lead healthy lifestyles and stay safe from threats to their health. Our public health team work on:

Information and intelligence – to provide information to understand the needs of the county’s population and compare it to other parts of the country – to help us decide on the health issues that need improving

Health protection – to protect the public from threats from infectious diseases and environmental hazards, such as flu and MRSA

Health care – to provide advice, information and expertise on public healthcare services to NHS commissioners (managers who buy these services)

The board, in partnership with Norfolk County Council, is responsible for producing the county’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), which describes our current and future health and wellbeing needs.